Gravitational Pull
by greatest-change
Summary: Naruto hadn't always had a good life. He'd been an orphan since he was five years old and had to work his way up to being the successful mechanic that he was today. However having a terrible past has kept him from fully opening his heart and getting into a serious relationship. Fate changes things when he ends up meeting Sasuke Uchiha...


**A/N: **Based off of a drabble that I made a few weeks ago called Redefine. I'd definitely read that after you've read this story is finished.

_Dedicated to InstantKarma83_

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_ or any of its characters****.**

Naruto turned the key to the engine of the car that he was working on and smiled when it came to life. It took a few hours to fix all of the issues going on with it, but it finally worked! Feeling accomplished, he turned the car off and got out, shutting the door and sticking the keys into it to avoid misplacing them. The car was a completely remodeled 1964 Aston Martin D85, with a redone interior that Naruto really appreciated. He gave props to the owner for taking such good care of it. Cars were very important to him, no matter what they looked like. It could have been an old, beat down looking jeep and Naruto would still worship it to the moon and back.

He wiped his forehead from the sweat that perspired and walked over to his workbench. He still had two more cars to look at, and after that he would need to look over the paperwork again of his customers and make sure that he wasn't missing anything that needed to be fixed.

Owning a mechanic shop wasn't easy, but he won't have had it any other way. It started off shaky at first, but things really took off after a couple of months. Now _Naruto's Auto Repair Shop_ was one of the most recommended mechanic shops in all of Charlotte, North Carolina. It still made his heart swell with pride at himself.

He had really come a long way, having been an orphan for most of his life. His parents were tragically murdered when he was only six years old, and he'd been put into a group home after child services couldn't find any other family for him to live with. No one wanted him for adoption, due to the fact he'd become so destructive soon after his parents' death. He even managed to put himself in the hospital a couple of times, an example being when he had an "episode" and ended up severely clawing his cheeks with his own fingernails, leaving scars.

Not growing up in the best conditions only made things worse for him, and sometimes he thought that he'd never amount to anything. However, one day on his way back from school, he noticed a new mechanics shop that was opening up. Curiosity made him walk into _Jiraiya's Auto Repair Shop _that day, and it was there that his life changed for the better.

Thoughts of the old man made Naruto feel a little homesick. There were still moments when Naruto would feel himself being pulled back into that darkness he once was in, but then he'd call Jiraiya and find the strength to walk away. The last time Naruto contacted him was over a year ago. He'd only just opened up his shop and Jiraiya called him up to say that he was extremely proud and couldn't ask for a better apprentice. Of course this made Naruto cry like a baby.

As he walked over to his workbench to grab his bottle of water, Shikamaru, his co-worker and friend, coming down the spiral black steps that led to the loft just above the car garage.

"It's so early," Shikamaru yawned.

Naruto laughed. "It's almost the afternoon!"

"'Almost' is the keyword there," Shikamaru said. "Thanks for letting me crash in the loft last night, by the way."

Naruto nodded. "No problem. I'm sure it isn't easy to deal with a pregnant wife."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Whatever."

Naruto gave him a small pat on the shoulder. He really felt for the guy. His wife seemed very hardheaded at times, and Shikamaru was usually cool, calm, and collected. Naruto hadn't met Temari before, but he knew that she was probably a force to be reckoned with. However, Shikamaru was devoted to her, and he really respected that. There were a lot of things that he respected about Shikamaru in general.

While all of the people that he hired were nice and friendly, Naruto hired Shikamaru first. Back when things hadn't been so great with his shop, and a lot of people he hired ended up quitting on him, Shikamaru was one of the only mechanics Naruto had left before he had to hire new people. The two of them had been good friends ever since.

"I thought you'd be upstairs doing manager-like things," Shikamaru said. "Why are you here?"

Naruto took a sip of water before replying. "Chōji called in sick and TenTen's already backed up with her own work." He pointed behind him with his thumb. Over on the further side of the car garage, TenTen could be seen, in a pair of black overalls—similar to what Naruto and Shikamaru were wearing—and a facemask. She was currently using a blowtorch. "And Kiba's on vacation with his family, so I couldn't call him."

Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder at TenTen before looking back at him. "Why didn't you just come and get me? I could have come in early."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Seeing as you just complained about it being 'too early,' I highly doubt that you would have appreciated me waking you up. Plus, I really don't mind. You of all people should know by now that I love being in here just as much as the rest of you guys. If not, more."

The spiky haired man shook his head. "So troublesome," he murmured, and looked over at the clock on the wall. It was just now hitting twelve-o'clock. "How long have you been here?"

Naruto had to take a minute to count back in his head. "Since seven, I think."

"You should go and get some lunch," Shikamaru suggested.

Naruto chuckled. "Isn't it my job to tell you guys to do that?"

"Well, you have a bad habit of taking care of others before yourself. Someone's got to knock you off that damn pedestal every once in a while."

"Aw. You care about me," Naruto smiled.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and waved him away. "Just get out of here already. And don't come back for another hour."

"Yes, sir!" Naruto mock-saluted him. He grabbed his towel off of the workbench before walking away, throwing his now empty bottle of water into the recycling basket beside the doors. He noticed that his hands were incredibly greasy and decided to go and clean himself up.

Once he walked out of the car-garage, he turned left to where the men's restroom was. He smiled and whistled to himself as he made his way through the brightly lit hall. The building still gave off that 'freshly new' building smell.

The shop wasn't that big. It had a place for the customers to sit, a front desk, and a hall that led down to the car garage, his office and the bathrooms. It was nice, it was small, and it was _his_.

After moving to Charlotte, Naruto quickly began to make a name of himself. He met lots of people, some of which whom had introduced him to other important people. Before he knew it, people were making donations for him to start his own auto repair shop. He'd already had money saved from his hometown in Pennsylvania, but he highly doubted that that money alone would have been enough to get him to where he was today.

He finished washing up in the bathroom and made a pit stop up to his office to grab his keys and the light jacket that he always brought with him. Walking out of his office and making his way outside, he passed Ino, his front desk worker, on his way out of the shop.

"Going out to lunch early, Naruto?" she called out.

"Yep! The new manager, Shikamaru, told me to go." Naruto answered, jokingly, and paused at the door to look at her.

Her baby blue eyes widened. "Well isn't that surprisingly sweet of him? Have a nice time."

"Thanks," Naruto said. He walked out of the doors and to the parking lot where his truck was. "Hey there, pretty, you are looking _so_ good today," he praised and stroked the front of his truck. Luckily no one was around to hear his outlandish talk, not that he'd really care anyway. He had a dark red Chevy Silverado and adored the hell out of it. He'd had it for a couple of years, but it still ran just as good as the latest model.

It was fairly nice outside for late February, and Naruto thought about rolling his windows down, but decided against it once he got inside the truck. There were still a little bit of snow on the ground from a previous snowfall, but it would probably melt away by the end of the day, due to it being sunny out.

He started his truck and nearly jumped at the loud music that blared from the stereo. Laughing at himself, he turned the stereo down and pulled out of the parking lot.

Usually he just walked up the street to the _Sub Station II_ for a thirty-minute break, but since Shikamaru told him not to come back for another hour, Naruto decided venture up to the Noodles & Company restaurant that was only a few minutes away. If it had been anyone other than Shikamaru to tell him something like that, Naruto would have reprimanded them for talking to him that way. But since it _had_ been Shikamaru, Naruto let it slide. Besides, he was hungry anyway.

He took a detour onto a somewhat abandoned road to avoid even the slightest bit of rush hour traffic. There was no doubt in his mind that other people would be going on their lunch-break as well. Seeing as there was only one other car on the road with him at that time, he patted himself on the back for making the right call.

Naruto was just about to change the radio station, when he noticed that the car up ahead began to swerve out of control. His eyes widened and he quickly put his foot on the break to slow down just enough to avoid accidentally rear-ending the back of the person's car. He relaxed when the driver managed to finally get in control and pull over to the side of the road and stop the car.

Naruto quickly drove to the side of the road as well—not even really thinking about it—and turned off his truck. He opened his door and saw the other male driver getting out of his car as well. The man walked towards the front of their car and kneeled down to inspect. Naruto ran up to the stranger.

"Hey, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he looked to see what the issue was. Apparently it had been a flat tire.

"I'm fine, but I think I hit something," the stranger said. Naruto took that moment to look at him. He had spiky black hair, dark eyes, and cream-colored skin. The dark blue dress shirt and black pants that he wore seemed to fit him snuggly since he was able to bend down easily in them.

Naruto bent down as well to get a good look at the tire. There was no saving it. A gleam of something shiny caught his eye. He reached out and pulled whatever it was free from the stranger's tire.

"I think I've found the culprit," Naruto said, holding a metal-tack out in his palm. He looked back at the tire and noticed a couple of other tacks wedged into the tire. "And it looks like this isn't the only one either."

"What kind of person puts those in the middle of the road?" The guy asked. His face was noticeably becoming angry.

"Stupid teenagers. I did hear something on the news about there being a couple of punks doing this in residential areas all over the city. I guess they still haven't been caught." Cautiously, Naruto looked around himself and up and down the road to see if there was any more lying about. From the looks of it, there weren't any more.

He watched as the stranger put a hand to his forehead and then sighed. "Great. That's just fucking great."

"Hey, at least it's only one flat tire that you've got here. Those kids were a bunch of amateurs at best. If it had been me back in the day, I would have at least spread the tacks out so that you could get more than just one flat tire." He laughed and then quickly shut up when he was met with a glare. Clearly it was too early to be making jokes.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Well…no. But you have a spare tire, don't you?" Naruto asked, defensively.

"Yes…but I don't know how to change one."

"Well, you're in luck, because I do." Naruto stood up.

The stranger looked up at him and then stood up as well. "You do?"

"Yep!" Naruto smiled and pointed at the logo on his black overalls.

There was a brief pause, and Naruto watched as the stranger looked him up and down, scrutinizing.

"You're a mechanic?"

"Yep!" Naruto said again. "How ironic, right?"

"Hn. Are you sure you can change my tire?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and placed his hands on his hips. "Of course I can. Did you think this was a costume?"

"Can you blame me? Seeing as that you're a complete stranger, I don't exactly know what's up your sleeve or what you like to do in your…_private_ life."

"It's definitely not anything you have you're mind in the gutter about!" Naruto exclaimed. "And even without the flashy clothes, I'd still be able to do something as simple as changing a tire."

"Nothing about what you're wearing can be considered '_flashy_'."

Naruto sighed, impatiently. "Look, do you want my help or not? I could easily just leave."

The man glared at Naruto for another moment, and Naruto glared right back. The guy seemed like a complete asshole.

"Fine."

Naruto nodded. "Okay. Let's not waste any more time then. Do you have a lug-wrench, and a jack?"

The stranger frowned. "No."

"That's alright. I have them both in the back of my truck. Just give me a second." Naruto turned and started to walk back.

"Wait," the stranger called out and he turned his head over his shoulder.

"What's your name?"

Naruto felt like slapping his forehead. How could he forget to introduce himself? He fully turned back around and placed his hand in his pockets.

"I'm Naruto. And you are…"

"Sasuke," the other said.

"It's nice to meet you then, Sasuke."

"Look, I'm sorry if I offending you," Sasuke started. "I'm kind of in a rush, and this is the last thing that I wanted to happen. And you never really know who you can trust around here."

Naruto smiled genuinely for the first time since he came across Sasuke. "It's okay. I was kind of rude myself and I shouldn't have been, especially since you didn't ask for this to happen to you." He held his hand out for Sasuke to shake—which he did—and continued to speak. "I've had my share of meeting strange people, so I don't blame you for not trusting me right off the bat. But don't worry; I'm only here to help you. I promise."

Sasuke stared at him for another moment before finally nodding. "Okay," he said.

Slowly they let go of each other's hands that they hadn't let go of yet. Naruto finally turned and walked back to his truck. His head was beginning to fill with thoughts about the stranger.

Sasuke was definitely a good-looking guy and Naruto couldn't deny it, despite their shaky meeting. His voice was low, but not to the point where he could be unheard or monotone. It was just right. But his face had a kind of hardness to it, and yet it seemed so smooth and virtuous at the same time. And from the looks of it, Sasuke didn't seem that much older than him, if Sasuke was older at all.

Once he got the tools needed to fix the tire, Naruto walked back to Sasuke, who was just now pulling out the spare tire from his trunk and placing it on the concrete. Naruto noticed flex in his arms from over the dress shirt that he wore. He added the word 'toned' to his growing list of compliments about Sasuke.

He placed his jack and lug-wrench on the ground before holding up a brick that he brought along as well.

"It's for the other side of the car. To keep it in place," he explained. Sasuke nodded.

Naruto went to other side of the car and then placed the brick under the tire that was on the opposite side of the flat. "This shouldn't take long," Naruto said as he walked back over and kneeled down beside his tools. "Only ten minutes max."

"That's good to hear," Sasuke said and folded his arms, watching Naruto.

Suddenly a phone started ringing. From the ringtone alone, Naruto knew that it wasn't his. He looked over at Sasuke, who was now reaching into the pockets of his dress pants. He looked down at his phone and then back at Naruto.

"I have to take this. I'll just be over there and out of your way," he said and then answered the phone. Naruto gave him a nod and then turned back to what he was doing. He grabbed his lug-wrench and started loosening the lug nuts around the tire, but not completely. Luckily the noise that sounded as he did it was enough to drown out the sound of Sasuke talking on the phone. He never liked eavesdropping, even on accident.

Once he was done loosening the lug nuts, he grabbed his jack and hooked it underneath the car. He was just beginning to jack the car up when Sasuke appeared beside him once more.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"It's fine," Naruto replied and continued to jack the car. "This is a nice car that you have. It's the new Toyota Avalon, right?"

"Thanks. And yes, I just bought it."

"It definitely suits you," Naruto said.

"Thanks," Sasuke said again after a brief, but noticeable pause.

After that there was a couple of minutes of silence and Naruto fell into his groove. Usually when he was like this, everything and everyone else in the world seemed to drown out, but for some reason he wouldn't allow himself to do that with Sasuke. In fact, he felt very self-conscious as the other watched him from the side.

He removed the flat tire completely from the car after taking off the lug nuts and placed it on the other side of him. There conveniently weren't any other cars coming down the road at that time. He grabbed the spare tire and easily slid it on to the car. Then he started to place the lug nuts back on one-by-one.

"So, I'm guessing you're the manager of that mechanic shop? Since it's named after you and all," Sasuke asked, breaking the silence.

"Meh. I really don't like that title. Managers do boring things like paperwork all of the time," Naruto said as he started to loosely tighten the lug nuts back on with his wrench. "I'm more of a hands on type of person. I do the paperwork, yes, but it's not all that I do. I always try to find the time to fix cars whenever I can."

"How long have you been fixing cars?"

Naruto smiled as he twisted with his wrench. It wasn't every day that someone thought he was interesting enough to ask questions about.

"Since I was sixteen. I knew a guy that let me hang out in his mechanic shop after school. He taught me basically everything I know. It started with the simple things first, though. Like changing a tire," he pointed out. He looked over at Sasuke—who was now glaring at him—and then laughed. "No offense."

Making sure that the tire was properly on, he started to lower the vehicle with his jack, unhooking it afterwards. Once the car was lowered, Naruto made his way back over to the tire and then tightened the lug nuts completely. When he finished with the last one, he placed the wrench on the ground and stood up.

"All done!" he said, and wiped his hands on his overalls.

"Thank you," Sasuke said.

Naruto smiled. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could help."

"I'm glad you were, too." Sasuke's eyes noticeably travelled up and down Naruto's body before they finally rested on Naruto's face. He smirked.

Naruto didn't miss the underlying meaning to that and felt his cheeks starting to redden. He scratched the back of his head and looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Sasuke.

"I should probably get going then," he said and walked over to the other's car to grab his jack that was still underneath. He noticed from the corner of his eye that Sasuke was walking towards him.

"I'd like to give you some money for all of the trouble you went through for me."

Naruto shook his head quickly. "That isn't necessary. It wasn't any trouble at all."

This time Sasuke shook his head, "I—"

"Really, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted, stepping a little closer in the process. "It's okay. I was happy to do it."

They gazed at each other for another heart-stopping moment before Sasuke finally nodded.

"Thank you again."

"It was nice meeting you." Naruto grinned.

"You too," Sasuke replied.

Naruto bit his lip and then turned around completely, walking back to his truck and getting inside. He placed his jack into the backseat and started his truck. Once he saw what time it was, he cursed. There was no way he could make it to the noodle restaurant now. Sighing, he put his car into drive. He'd just have to go to the _Sub Station II._

Checking to see if any other cars were coming before making a U-turn, he glanced in Sasuke's direction one last time and saw that he was putting his flat tire in the back of his trunk. Naruto looked away and drove back down the road from which he came.

Sometimes life just wasn't fair.

Fridays were the days that Naruto hated the most. Paperwork. Paperwork. Paperwork. If he were a weaker man, he would have started crying right then and there on top of his desk. Usually he didn't have as much to do, but since he covered for Chōji yesterday, the paperwork was coming back to kick him in the ass.

He'd came into the office an hour earlier than usual that day to get started and had been inside of it all morning. There was a small inch of disappointment that he had begun to feel because he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to help out with any of the repairs today. Since Chōji was back, it seemed like Naruto wasn't really needed that much any way. He was happy nonetheless that all of his mechanics needed for the day were present. Even Shikamaru seemed better today since Temari allowed him back into the house after their "fight." Although, Naruto was beginning to think that Shikamaru just wanted to get away from his pregnant, hormonal wife for a day, and made up an excuse just to sleep in the loft.

A sigh came from his lips as he signed off on another document.

Even if he had to take care of the place, Naruto didn't want to be a manager full-time who just signed papers and showed his face to the customers whenever they weren't happy. He'd told Sasuke just as much yesterday.

He smiled at the thought of the other man. Occasionally Sasuke would pop up into his mind throughout the morning. While it was a good distraction, it also made Naruto feel stupid to even think about him. They'd only met once, and there was a good chance that Naruto would never see him again.

Ever since he moved to Charlotte, he hadn't met anyone that really caught his eye. He had only fooled around with a couple of people here, and it was nothing ever long lasting. Back when he lived in Pennsylvania and was a teenager, Naruto only ever hooked up with girls. It was only until he moved that he started to take greater interest into other males, therefore liking both ends of the spectrum.

However Naruto knew that he was a…_complicated_ guy, carrying enough baggage that could make just about anyone run for the hills. While he definitely wasn't the same person he was in his younger years, there were little pieces of himself that would never be fixed. He would most likely always have some kind of psychological problems no matter how hard he tried. That was exactly why he was so hesitant to get into any kind of relationship.

But being with Sasuke yesterday…

Naruto bit his lip.

There was an unspoken attraction there that even he hadn't been oblivious enough to see.

A knock on his door broke him out of his current thoughts.

"Come in," he said, sitting up straight now.

Ino poked her head in the door. "There's some guy at the front desk that wants to talk to you."

Naruto looked at her questionably. "Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. Just that he needed to talk to you."

"Did you get a name?"

"Nope. But he's really hot."

"Ino," Naruto said in annoyance.

"I know! I'm sorry!" She said before closing the door and walking away quickly.

Naruto sighed and got up. He made sure that he was presentable in his white dress shirt and black slacks the were held up with a matching belt. Usually he dressed this way every day, but when the shop was closed for the night to the customers, he would change into his own overalls and go out to the garage to work on a few cars with a couple of his mechanics.

He walked out of his office and down the hall. Ino was sitting back at her desk and writing on a sheet of paper for an older man in front of her. Naruto assumed that it was him that she was talking about and started to walk over towards them, but he glanced over at the waiting area and halted when he saw a familiar head of spiky, black hair.

It was Sasuke.

Heart pounding in his chest, Naruto slowly walked over to the oblivious man who was staring down at his phone. There were two other customers waiting in the shop, but Naruto's brain didn't process them at all. He felt like none of this was real. How was Sasuke here? _Why_ was Sasuke here? Had he put the tire on wrong?

Naruto quickly dismissed that last theory. There was no way in hell he put that tire on wrong.

Sasuke finally noticed him and stood up from his chair, adjusting the black messenger bag that was strapped over his body. He was wearing a blue, quilted jacket, which was unzipped, so Naruto could see the black, long-sleeved shirt that went along nicely with his dark blue jeans.

A small smile appeared on Sasuke's face and Naruto could hear his heart pounding loud in his ears as he smiled back.

"This is a surprise," he said.

Sasuke chuckled, and Naruto clung on to the sound.

"You probably didn't expect to see me again."

"I didn't," Naruto agreed. "So what are you doing here? Did you run over any more tacks after I left?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. My car is fine. I just thought that I'd return something to you." He held out his arm and Naruto looked down to see his lug-wrench in the other's hands. "You left it behind yesterday. I didn't notice it until you were already driving away."

Naruto laughed and took the wrench out of Sasuke's hands. "I can't believe you searched for my shop and came all the way out here just to return this."

Sasuke shrugged. "Navigation systems makes things easy. This place isn't that far off from where I live, actually. And it was the least I could do after you helped me out yesterday."

"Thank you," Naruto said, gratefully. He tried to find somewhere else to look other than at Sasuke, but then his eyes locked with Ino's. She was staring at them from afar as the customer in front of her signed some papers. He heard Sasuke cough and turned his head to face him once again.

"I was actually wondering if you were going on a break soon?" Sasuke asked, unsurely. "I know you said that you didn't want any money, but I still feel like I owe you, so I'd like to buy you lunch."

"You really don't have to that," Naruto quickly said, fiddling with the wrench in his hands. "I told you before that I was happy to do it for free and I meant that."

"I know that. This is something that I _want_ to do."

Naruto stared at him and then looked over at the clock on the wall behind his shoulder. It was 12:25, five minutes before the time that he usually went out on his lunch break.

"Umm…"

Suddenly Sasuke took a step back. "I probably should have called the shop beforehand," he said. "You have your wrench back, so I'll just go."

"No, wait!" Naruto said. He felt an ache in his chest when he saw a flash of disappoint go across Sasuke's face, before it was immediately replaced with a look of indifference. Naruto hated himself for unintentionally hurting the other's feelings. "Just give me five minutes and then we can go."

Sasuke looked at him warily. "We don't have to go if you don't want to, Naruto."

"Nonsense! I'd be an idiot to pass up on the opportunity for free food," Naruto joked.

"…Are you sure?" Sasuke asked.

"Positive."

Sasuke still looked a little uneasy, and before Naruto could stop himself, he reached out and touched Sasuke lightly on the arm with the hand that wasn't holding the lug-wrench. He could suddenly feel the eyes of other people watching them, and knew that Sasuke could too, but he ignored it.

"Just give me a few minutes, okay?" he said softly. "I just have to let the person at the front-desk know to forward any of my phone calls, and then go back to my office to grab my jacket."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto's hand before looking back at him. "Okay," he said just as softly.

Naruto gave him one last smile before letting go and walking back towards Ino, whom was just now saying goodbye to the man that was just in front of her desk.

"I'm going out for lunch. Forward my calls, would ya?"

Ino turned in her chair and smirked at him. "Sure. Oh and try not to put on the first date."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Ino."

They ended up walking down the street to Naruto's usual lunch spot, since he was only on a thirty-minute break. When they got there, the place hadn't been that packed, so they got to the front of the line fairly quickly.

Naruto didn't want Sasuke to pay for anything that was more than ten dollars for him, and they practically bickered in front of the cashier over whether or not Sasuke could buy him a fountain drink. Not wanting to cause any more of a scene, Naruto just gave in and let Sasuke have his way.

He ended up persuading the other to buy something as well and helped Sasuke choose from the menu, seeing as that he'd never been there before. Sasuke decided on a salad, while Naruto got a regular sized sub. After Sasuke paid for their meals, they both chose to sit inside of the restaurant, over by a window.

"So, what do you do?" Naruto asked, referring to Sasuke's job. He took a bite out of his sandwich and chewed as he waited for an answer.

"I'm a web designer."

Naruto's eyes bugged. "Really? That's awesome. Do you work for anyone?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm a freelance worker. Being employed by someone else really doesn't suit people like me. You get a lot more money when you're self-employed anyway." He picked up his fork and twirled it in his salad. "I was actually on my way to a meeting with my father and his faculty yesterday to discuss his webpage that I'm redesigning for him."

"You aren't doing it for free?" Naruto questioned

.

"No. He and I both share the same idea that when it comes to doing your job, you shouldn't do it for free. Not even for your family." Sasuke tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, and Naruto watched the motion.

"So that's why you were so adamant on paying me back yesterday."

"Well don't you catch on quickly?" Sasuke said, sarcastically.

"Ha. Smartass," Naruto said. "So what does he do? Your dad, I mean…if you don't mind me asking," he added, hoping that he wasn't being rude. He was just really…intrigued by Sasuke.

"He owns a real-estate agency."

"Oh? What's his name? I see plenty of billboards with real-estate agencies on them when I go to and from work. It wouldn't be a surprise if I saw his name on one."

"Fugaku Uchiha."

"Nope! Never heard of him. And…Uchiha?"

"Yes. It's Japanese."

Mentally, Naruto slapped himself for never even thinking about asking Sasuke for his last name until now. However knowing that the other had parents who were Japanese was starting to make him think about his own parents. Naruto knew almost nothing about them, but one thing he absolutely did know was that his mom was fully Japanese and his dad was half. He had no idea where he fell on that continuum.

"So you're Japanese, too?" he asked Sasuke.

The web-designer nodded and then bit into more of his salad. They both ate in silence until Naruto finished with his sub and balled up the wrapper that once held it.

"That was so good! It was even better than yesterday, but maybe that's because I didn't pay for it myself."

"So I take it you come here often?"

Naruto chuckled. "Just about every day."

"I see."

"Thanks for buying me lunch." Naruto smiled.

"It was the least I could do," Sasuke replied curtly.

Naruto fished his phone out of his pants pocket to check the time and frowned. Unfortunately it was already time to start heading back to work.

"Ah. Is it time for me to let you go now?"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke and smirked. "I didn't know that you were holding me captive?"

"It's all part of my master plan." Sasuke smirked back.

"And what 'master plan' is that?" Naruto asked, clearly amused.

Sasuke leaned back in his chair. "I can't tell you that. It's confidential."

"Aww. I hate being out of the loop."

Sasuke smiled and then paused. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it.

"What is it?" Naruto asked. The way Sasuke looked made him desperate to find out what he had to say.

"I was just wondering if…you aren't doing anything tomorrow night?" Sasuke said and looked down at his empty bowl of salad before finally looking back up at Naruto. He almost looked timid, or rather…_shy_.

Naruto froze. He definitely wasn't expecting for Sasuke to ask him something like that. A billion of questions crossed his mind in one split second. How was he supposed to respond? Was Sasuke asking him out as a friend, or was he asking him out on a date? Should he say that he wasn't busy if Sasuke was in fact asking him out on a date?

"D-did you want to do something?" he asked, hating himself for stammering.

"Are you not busy tomorrow?" Sasuke asked back, with more confidence in his voice that time around.

Naruto's heart was hammering away in his chest as he thought about it for a moment. Would he really be busy? On Saturday's the shop was open from 8 to 5. He didn't have anything major to do besides make a couple of phone calls afterwards, unless he optionally wanted to help out on some repairs.

"No, I'm not busy," he finally said. Unconsciously he began to squeeze at the sub wrapper that was still balled up in his hands.

"Then would you like to go out with me?"

"You're really asking me out?"

"Well, obviously," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "If my last question wasn't clear enough."

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be a asshole sometimes?" Naruto bit back.

Sasuke smiled. "I was always told that it was part of my charm."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the response, but smiled back anyway. He began to contemplate the question again in his head, but kept losing concentration to think with Sasuke staring at him the way he was. He squeezed at the paper ball some more.

"Do we have an answer yet?"

"I…didn't think you swung that way?" Naruto lied.

"I do. But it's you who's the questionable one."

"Well you definitely…_pique_ my interest," Naruto said, beaming when Sasuke laughed. God, he could listen to that sound all day.

"That's good at least," Sasuke said. "I would have felt like an idiot for purposefully keeping that wrench as an excuse to see you, only for you to not be interested."

"What?" This time Naruto laughed, loud enough for a few customers sitting around them to glance their way.

"So what do you say, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his gaze never breaking.

Naruto waited for his laughter to die down before finally saying, "I'd love to go out with you."

Sasuke looked relieved. "Good. And did you have to make that so nerve wrecking?"

"You can't just ask someone a question like that and not expect them to freak out just a little!" Naruto defended himself and then, more softly, said, "But I'm sorry if I had you on the edge."

"You said yes, so I guess that's all that matters, right?"

Naruto his insides turn into mush and he felt like an idiot for smiling so hard, but he couldn't bring himself to give a damn.

"Right," he replied.

Sasuke gave him one last look before gathering his trash and getting up to throw it away. Naruto followed in suit, throwing the paper ball into the bin, but keeping his drink that was still half-full.

They walked out of the _Sub Station II_ together and made their way down the street, walking closely beside each other.

"So where are we going to go? And what time?" Naruto asked, shivering as a strong wind gushed past him.

"I can work around whatever schedule you have. We should probably exchange numbers, though."

Naruto nodded and pulled out his phone. Sasuke told him his phone number, and then Naruto told Sasuke his.

"Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked after plugging it into his phone. "So you come from a Japanese family line as well?"

"Umm, yeah," Naruto said awkwardly. He didn't want Sasuke to start asking any more questions about his family, so he quickly changed the subject.

"I close up the shop at 5, and I usually stay after to finish up some work. I should be ready by 8."

"That sounds good," Sasuke said.

"You still haven't told me where we're meeting up at."

"I'll let you know by tomorrow."

"You're being awfully mysterious." Naruto eyed him suspiciously.

"Trust me. I'm not taking you to your personal execution or anything," Sasuke said.

"Well that would just be rude, considering the fact that I changed your tire and all."

They made their way to the parking lot of Naruto's shop and stood beside Sasuke's car. Sasuke leaned up against his door and folded his arms, standing there, watching. Or was he waiting?

Naruto had the sudden urge to reach out to him: to touch his arm, shoulder, or face. He balled his hand in a fist to keep from actually acting on it, because in that moment feelings were bubbling up inside of him and he didn't know whether to run away or embrace them.

There was still so much he had left that he wanted to say, to ask. If only he could have just frozen the moment in time so that they'd stay there for a little while longer, even if it was to only look into each other's eyes. However, their time was limited and the only words that could escape from his mouth were, "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Sasuke's unwavering gaze held his. "Yes."

Naruto nodded. "Okay then…Bye, Sasuke."

"Goodbye, _Naruto_."

A warranted chill spread through Naruto's body at the sound of his name on the other man's lips. His hand that was balled in a fist tightened even more as he turned around and walked away.

The feelings that he had were unexpected and quite frightening, especially since he'd only just met Sasuke. He could feel some sort of automatic pull that willed him towards the former stranger. There was so much that he didn't know, but he felt like there was something more about Sasuke that he should stick around for. While getting into a relationship wasn't something Naruto never really thought that he was capable of, things with Sasuke were different—c_ould _be different. The gravitational pull he felt had all of his insecurities and self-doubt leave him as if they never even existed in the first place. And the pull was _so strong_ that it made him want to turn around and walk back over to Sasuke and tell him all of this, craziness be damned.

Naruto fought against it though, and made his way into the shop. He hadn't noticed how short of breath he was until he made it through the glass door.

"Did you have a nice lunch?" he heard and looked up at Ino sitting at her desk. The shop was empty at the moment.

"Yeah…"

Naruto walked passed the empty lot of chairs and Ino's desk, ignoring her as she called out his name. His felt like his mind was racing a thousand miles a minute.

This was dangerous. And if he wasn't careful, things could quickly turn into a chaotic mess of feelings, emotions, and impending hurt that could potentially end up destroying him and turning him into the nothing he was once before.

Part 2


End file.
